Evolution vs Magic
by Female Duo
Summary: "How did you do that?" he questioned her, "Magic?" "No. Evolution." Mitch gathered up strength as she spoke. "Welcome to the top of the food chain, dude, let me help knock you down a few pegs." What happens when Loki meets a mutant who is both strong and beautiful? What happens when both of them are asked to help SHIELD with a mission? OC/Loki & OC/Steve Rogers
1. New player to the game

**A/N & Disclaimer****: I do not own anything Marvel, not the characters, not the universe, not their powers, nada. However, I do own my OC Michelle "Mitch" Ibanez. BUT, I do not own her best friend, Logan "Loki" Frasier because he is a creation of a friend of mine.**

**These two characters are from an RP I used to play, for further knowledge on them both please go to insanejournal . com and look up _egyptian_ for Mitch's profile and either/or lokisrun and lokimotion for Logan's profile. I am aware that having "two" Lokis can get confusing, but I like confusing, it makes for interesting. I will do my best to describe the two as differently as possible because they are different from one another.**

**This takes place during the Chitauri attack in Avengers. I have slightly re-arranged the events, but just slightly. Don't jump me. Please. Last but not least, I hope you all enjoy! (Oh, and if I get something CRAZY wrong about Marvel Universe and its rules, please PM me and let me know. I'm basing a lot of this off the movies, not the comics.)**

**xxx**

Mitch opened her tattoo parlor the same way she always did. Her first appointment showed up and came in, followed by Mitch's best friend and cashier, Logan Frasier, commonly known as Loki by friends and tattoo/piercing patrons. The man didn't look bad, but he didn't look good either. He had some stubble on his face and his shirt was wrinkled.

"You're late," Mitch told him, leading her appointment into the back and in one of the curtained off areas.

"Well, I could get her out of my apartment fast enough," he retorted jokingly, a wicked smile on his face as he winked at Mitch.

As she came back up front to get some sketches, she gave him a look. "You mean, you were too busy crying when she left this morning, running out the door once she realized what you really look like without her beer goggles on," Mitch joked back at him, running her hand through and messing up the man's brown, curling hair. Hazel eyes glared at the teaser's brown, almond shaped ones. Mitch gave a playful laugh at her friend's glare and walked back to her customer. Loki couldn't hold his glare too long before he too was laughing at the joke.

The morning was going well, one could even say usual, that is, until there was a loud crash and a piece of the ceiling fell down in the tattoo parlor's lobby.

"What the fuck?" Mitch questioned, mid-tattoo design. She wiped away some of the blood on the arm in front of her as Logan went to the front of the parlor and looked out the wall-to-floor windows. His face paled. "Um.. Mitch?" he said, barely audible. When no one answered him, he called a bit louder, light panic setting.

"Mitch!"

"What?!" she called back, annoyed at being interrupted for a second time. Couldn't people just let her make art?

"Come see this, right now!" Logan insisted. It was the strain in his voice that had Mitch concerned. So she wiped her design clean of the red liquid and then gently covered up the customer's arm, informing him that she'd be right back, and don't pick at it.

She mumbled some nonsense about not allowing an artist to work properly as she walked back up to the front of the parlor and see what her friend was so concerned about. When she reached him, he pointed up at the skyline above the street. "Whoa.." Mitch's breath caught in her throat as she saw the scene unfold in front of her.

In the sky of New York City, right before the two friends' eyes, there were big, metal-looking, flying worms flying around the tops of the buildings. Then she saw Iron Man engaging in a fight with the flying worms and some guy in black, at the corner of a building's roof, shooting arrows at them too. "Holy shit. Get out now," Mitch said calmly but direct at the same time. "Yes ma'am," Logan responded.

His former military training kicked in, calming Logan down so he was able to make a strong-voiced announcement to the few people in the parlor. "Okay everyone. We're closing shop early today due to some extenuating circumstances. Now if you would all please come with me and head out to the back exit, quickly but calmly. If you're in the middle of a session, please accept our apologies for not being able to finish the work today." After his little spiel and directing the few people to where the back exit was, he stopped and gave Mitch a knowing look, to which she chose to ignore and kept looking at the sky concerningly. He didn't move, however, and the look was still on his face, boring into hers, forcing her to look at him.

"Fine! I won't do anything stupid. But I will do what I can to try and save this place," Mitch finally answered. "That is all I wanted to hear," her friend replied, giving her a small peck on the cheek. "See you on the other side."

Mitch watched her friend leave with the few others just as another crash shook the building. She hoped they would all get out okay and be okay once they got out. She feared that they could be in more danger by leaving and being out there without defenses, but the other choice could be immensely dangerous if the building were to collapse on top of them. Mitch tried not to think about her little shop of art being demolished like that. Sure, she wasn't in huge need of the income, but that wasn't why she did this. She loved tattooing, creating art, using people as her canvas, and having a place that felt like home to come and get away from all the political bullshit she dealt with in her real job. She would do everything she could to keep whatever those things were from messing up her safe-haven.

She went outside to see if the things were really metal, her powers reaching out as far as she could to see whether they were or not. Mitch smiled once she knew the answer and she used her powers to rise up so she could get a better overall look at the battle and determine how she could defend her area the best against whatever these things were. Once high enough, Mitch could see the fight in it's entirety, even seeing some things she hadn't when she was at ground level, to include alien things on flying jet skis. She also noticed that it wasn't just her street in jeopardy, making her decision to try and help as much as possible over just being selfish with her own place.

Mitch deflected something that was fired at her, it looked like a phaser type blast. She needed to get on a roof top so she wasn't wasting her energy on levitating. She quickly moved to the nearest roof and began reaching out her power to the nearest worm-thing. Her hands were outstretched to it as if to give it a bear hug. Her browse creased in serious concentration as her hands gradually moved closer to each other. The worm in front of her started to crush slowly from the front and moving to the back. "Come on!" she gritted out through clenched teeth, feeling that the whole process was moving too slow for her. Once her palms met in front of her, the entire worm was crushed. She dropped her arms in exhaustion, but there was no time to catch her breath as some of those aliens on flying jet skis started firing at her. Mitch dodged one blast and deflected another two.

As she was fighting, she spotted something odd. A normal looking guy, well, human looking anyways, in some green, fancy clothing, was riding one of those flying jet skis, but he wasn't attacking the aliens. It was like he was fighting _with_ the aliens. Mitch took a step back in preparation before running and launching herself off of the roof and at the man, her powers stabilizing her path. The force of her running into him forced them both to crash into the Stark Building. They both recovered quickly from the landing, both standing up and facing each other. The raven haired man looked over the raven haired woman. He didn't see anything extraordinary about her and yet she was able to get the drop on him.

Mitch spoke first. "Are you the one causing all of this chaos?" she questioned harshly. The man just smiled, an evil smile before stalking his way towards Mitch. She noticed the glowing staff in his hand and reached her powers out to take it from him, the staff flying into her open hand effortlessly. This made the man stop his approach and his eyes widened.

"How did you do that?" he questioned her, "Magic?"

Mitch looked at the guy as if he was a crazy, high person. "No. Evolution." Mitch gathered up strength as she spoke. "Welcome to the top of the food chain, dude, let me help knock you down a few pegs." The man was confused by her comment, but there wasn't time to comment back because he found himself being thrown back and against the wall by an invisible, but strong force.

Mitch was going to use her power to hold him in place until someone better suited could handle him, but before she had a chance to do anything the Hulk came barreling through those poor windows, causing Mitch too toss the staff away as she ducked for cover from the glass shards.

What happened next had the exotic beauty laughing hysterically. The man shouted something to the Hulk about being a god, but while he was giving his speech, the Hulk grabbed the man's foot and smashed him around as if the man was a ragdoll and the Hulk was an angry child throwing a temper tantrum. "Puny god," Mitch heard the giant green man say. It seemed that she hadn't been spotted by the Hulk, thankfully, and after he left to rejoin the fight, she emerged from her hiding space in a corner of the room and slapped her hand over her mouth as she nearly cried with laughter. Some part of her was slightly concerned that the guy was hurt, but that was _slightly_. Especially since he had said he was a god. Gods couldn't die that easily, right?

After her episode of laughter, Mitch returned to her original plan of using her powers to hold the guy in place until someone else got there. Although, with him embedded into the floor, she wasn't even sure if her powers were needed. Mitch couldn't resist the urge to taunt the guy now that he was down.

"I guess I was wrong. I didn't have to knock you down a few pegs. Big guy did that for me." Mitch laughed again, probably enjoying the whole thing a bit too much, but the alternative was to be pissed off about the potential that her shop was destroyed. If she thought about that, there's no telling what she would do to her trapped captive. She focused her energy as she sat down next to the crater in the floor. She simply put a hand over the person wedged into the hole and emitted a light force field to keep him from getting too far should he remove himself from the area. She looked outside, part of her wishing she could go out and help still, but if the green clad man was the potential cause of all this, then it was best she stay there.

After a few minutes of silence with the occasional sounds from the battle outside, Mitch heard a strained voice below her. "Tell me how you did that," he asked. It took Mitch a second to realize what he was talking about. Instead of answering, she simply took out a coin from her pocket and began playing with it, rolling it around her knuckles at first then twirling it on the very tip of her finger nail. "It's called Magnetic Field Manipulation," Mitch finally answered. She finally looked down at the man.

Now that she had the chance to actually look at the man, he wasn't too bad looking, looks wise. Moral wise, he looked bad, possibly even evil. There was a darkness in his green eyes that Mitch didn't like. Bitterness, anger, and defiance were all seen. She had to look away, break the eye contact before speaking again. "I'm, for a lack of a better term, a mutant."

"A mutant?" the man questioned, his voice still haggard and breathy, the small beating still taking the breath out of him. Mitch didn't want to talk to this stranger about what she was, and luckily she didn't have to because Iron Man came in, followed by a red head in a black skin suit, the archer in black, Captain America, some Viking looking dude, and a disheveled looking man. Mitch looked down at the man in the crater and smiled at his slight look of fear.

Turning back to the group, she smiled and waved with her free hand. "Hi, who are you and what are you doing in my tower?" Iron Man asked, his face mask pulling back to reveal Tony Stark's face. Mitch's eye brow arched at his arrogant question.

"I'm the one making sure this creep doesn't go anywhere while you all save the city," she explained, sitting up, her one hand still hovering over the defeated man. "I'm Mitch, and this guy is all yours. I'll be on my way now."

"Not-uh, you're staying right here, Pyramid," Tony said, cutting off Mitch's last few words, and commenting about the woman's exotic look about her, complete with a tattoo of the Egyptian goddess Hathor on the inside of her right arm, from her wrist to her elbow.

"Excuse you?" she addressed at the 'nick-name' the man called her.

"Say, you look familiar, have you been on tv or something?" Tony asked. "Never mind, who are you and how did you crush that thing out there?" He asked, walking over to the bar and looking around from a glass that wasn't broken.

Mitch wasn't liking the looks she was getting from everyone else. They were suspicious of her, after she helped them, really? "Look, I'm nobody, okay? Just someone who wanted to help, now that's what I've done and I'll be on my way now," she explained. Mitch didn't want them knowing who she really was, at least not Stark, especially since he already recognized her from the news. She slowly made her way towards the door, deciding that going out the window and using her powers wouldn't be the best choice at the moment.

"I believe he asked you a question," Captain America replied, his tone commanding and directed at her. The rest of the team looked like they too weren't going to let her leave without an answer. They were being sure she wasn't under Loki's control or some alley of his.

Mitch crossed her arms over her chest and realized she was outnumbered. "Fine," she answered. "My name is Michelle Ibanez, but you can call me Mitch. I'm just a mutant who saw the fight and wanted to keep my parlor from being demolished... oh shit. My parlor!" The worry that Mitch had been suppressing caught up with her as she spoke. She said to hell with normal exit and ran towards the window and jumped out, her powers stablizing her decsent so that she landed gracefully. The Avengers followed her to the window and watched as she landed and started running down the street.

"I'll get her," the Captain announced, preparing to jump. "No need to Stripes, I know who she is," Tony replied. "She's Spain's Ambassador's daughter and an important political person herself. That's why I know her face. She and her family have been to one of my more recent galas to support world peace." Tony pulled up Mitch's profile on a screen and showed the others. The picture of her in the profile had Mitch dressed up in an elegant, floor length ball gown, tasteful make-up, and her hair styled and pulled up. If it weren't for the tattoo on the inside of her arm, one would have to do a double take to assure that the picture and the woman that was just there were one in the same. That was because Mitch enjoyed the days she didn't have to be professional looking and dressed down as much as she could on those days. The person in the picture looked like royalty, while the woman that had been there looked like a street rapper.

"Apparently Spain's and Egypt's daughter is a mutant. Interesting," Tony remarked, pondering over possibilities. "Anyways, we'll tell S.H.I.E.L.D. about her later. First let's deal with Rock of Ages over here."

**xxx**

**Let me know what y'all think. Thank you!**


	2. Turning down and taking up invites

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

xxx

Michelle left the conference room with a poker face. Her colleagues were looking to see if she would give any reaction over the meeting that just adjourned and she wasn't going to give them the satisfaction. That's how you played the game of politics, straight faced, no matter how bad things went. You just don't reveal your cards until you're ready to make that fatal blow.

As she walked back to her office, Michelle's secretary rushed up to her with her messages. "Ma'am, Tony Stark has called three times already," the secretary announced, handing over small pieces if paper to her boss. Michelle tightened her lips to a thin line but didn't roll her eyes or give a frustrated huff like she normally would if she was outside of her day job.

"Thank you Cyndi," she replied with a smile before walking into her office.

"Wow, don't you clean up nice?" came a voice from Michelle's couch once her office door was shut. Michelle was wearing a slate grey pant suit with gold top and black pumps. Her raven hair was lightly pulled back behind her neck with black hair tie and she had appropriate gold hoops on her ears. All her tattoos were covered by her suit jacket. It really was a night and day difference between Mitch, the person in the fight two weeks ago, and Michelle, an American Ambassador.

Michelle closed her eyes and mentally cursed whatever deity existed that allowed this to happen. Turning to face the unwanted visitor, Michelle smiled politely. "What brings you here, Mr. Stark?" she asked calmly.

"You brought me here by not answering my calls. That's not very ambassador-like of you," Tony replied, taking a sip from a drink he poured himself from Michelle's collection. "You don't mind, right?" he asked, raising the glass.

"Of course not. Help yourself to my expensive scotch," she replied with an over exaggerated sweet tone.

"Great! Now for business. Why haven't you returned my calls?" Tony inquired as Michelle took a seat behind her desk, propping her elbows up and threading her fingers together.

"I thought that answer would be perfectly clear by now, Mr. Stark. I am simply not interested in joining your Avengers or the S.H.I.E.L.D. agency," she answered curtly. She wondered how he had managed to get in her office without Cyndi knowing about it, but then she realized it would only take Cyndi getting up from her desk for a second for a sly man like Tony to get in unnoticed. Cheeky bastard.

Tony took another sip from the glass and studied the exotic woman he was addressing. It hadn't been his idea to invite the mutant into the team. But she had intrigued Director Fury and turned around and asked Tony to convince the woman to join them somehow. There was something said about Tony being annoyingly persistent to a point that no one could say no to him and that's why he was given the task, but thus far Mitch/Michelle had managed to keep her wits about her, even with all of Tony's nagging.

"Look Pyramid, I saw you during that fight. You were enjoying using your powers and helping the city out. Fighting bad guys, and hey, let's face it, that job has a lot faster results than the one you're currently in. Not as much ass to kiss either in order to make positive changes."

Michelle's face didn't change. She still held a pleasant look as if she wasn't being badgered day and night by the man sitting before her.

"Damn. Politics has certainly turned you to stone, hasn't it? Hello in there?" Tony said, waving a hand in front of Michelle's unwavering face.

She blinked slowly. It was amusing how hard this man was trying to get her to join them. But not many in her profession knew about her powers, and Michelle really wanted to keep it that way. Having a mutant in politics would not fare well for her position nor her parents' reputation in politics.

"With all due respect, Mr. Stark, I can have you removed from my office for being here without my permission. And since I have, on record, exactly how many times you've called me at my office, in one single day, for the past two weeks, I can file a harassment complaint against you that will make you unable to even step foot into this building, let alone into my office. Your number, and every number associated with you and Stark Industries, will be blocked from ever contacting me again. And should you try to contact me, after that complaint has been filed and documented, you will be arrested with a federal charge of harassment, which I'm sure will look very unprofessional to your clients, which in turn will, no doubt, cause funding of tour corporation to be pulled, which will cause Stark Industries to lose stock and could cause it to fall into the red, giving you no more time to harass me because you'll be too busy trying to save your sinking ship of a corporation. And all because you don't know how to take a polite 'no' for an answer." Michelle's words were clear and concise with no hint of humor to them. She meant every word.

Tony's eyes widened as the words and their meanings began to sink in. Had they been said by anyone else, he'd argue that the person had no weight to pull it off. But Michelle was a politician and a daughter of politicians. She could actually do some damage. Such dirty tactics. Now she had Tony's intrigue.

"Well, you certainly mean business, don't you? Ah would you look at the time? I believe I have a lunch date to get to. Good day to you Miss Ibanez," Tony announced as he stood up from the couch and placed the empty glass on her desk.

Michelle smiled triumphantly as he began to leave the room. "Have a pleasant lunch!" she called to him, a hint of sarcasm in her tone. As the door closed behind the billionaire, Michelle relished in the small victory. At least that would keep him from coming to her work and bothering her.

xxx

A few days later, still no word from Tony, much to Mitch's happiness. She was working at the parlor that day, well, more like cleaning it still. Her place not have be completely destroyed but it was still pretty banged up with debris everywhere, fallen ceiling pieces, broken glass and some stolen tattooing equipment. You would think people would be more inclined to help one another out after a devastating event, especially in New York, but no. Some people actually used the alien attack as a cover to break in and steal a few things. Thank goodness everything was replaceable.

Now it was Mitch and her best guy friend, Loki, cleaning up the remaining mess. It had come a long way in the past few weeks, and they were almost ready to re-open. Loki ran a hand through his brunette hair and felt it to be a bit longer than he liked it normally. "Hey Mitch, could you shave the back of my head again? It's starting to get long," he asked as he held toe dust pan for her.

"Sure. Let's get running water back in this place and I'll do it then." For most people, the half shaved, half long hair look didn't work. But the way Loki styled it, just having the bottom of his hair super short and the rest long enough to put up in a short pony tail, actually looked good on him. Aside from tattooing, Mitch also was a hairstylist, but only to a select few. She had wanted to go to beauty school but her parents wouldn't pay for it and her love for politics eventually won out and she went to school for that instead. It didn't stop her from taking some classes on the side, but she wasn't certified in beauty care as she was for tattooing and piercing. It was more of a hobby for Mitch.

After a while, Mitch looked around her parlor and smiled happily. It was finally finished. Tomorrow she could check on all her utilities and make sure everything was working well again and then she could open the day after that. It was something to be very proud of.

The bell over the door chimed as someone came inside the building. Loki and Mitch left it open because so many people from the surrounding area had been so helpful with all of the clean up, and they returned the favor to the other businesses.

"Hey, thank you for wanting to help, but I think we have it all done now," Mitch called to the new person who walked in as she made her way to the front. Her proud expression dropped when she saw who it was that came in. "So, I threaten to have him arrested and he sends you in his place, hu?" Mitch questioned, crossing her arms over her chest.

"No, actually I came by to see how the places here were doing and to see if anyone else needed anymore help getting things back together," The blonde answered. Mitch studied the man for a second before deciding that he was telling the truth. "What was your name again?" she asked.

"Steve Rogers, ma'am."

"Please don't ma'am me, I'm not at the embassy today, okay? I'm off-duty," Mitch informed, wincing at her own harsh tone. "Sorry. I've just gotten really tired of Tony bothering the shit out of me ever since the stupid alien attack and due to him not showing up in less formal settings, I haven't been able to take my frustrations out on him," she explained.

Steve gave a light smile. "Tony can be a nuisance. Just be thankful it's not the director himself. He's even worse," he replied. He would know because it was the director who pulled him into the Avengers. Although, Steve didn't really have much else to do either, but that was besides the point.

"I would say frustrations is an understatement," came Loki's voice from the back. "I say she's near strangling the guy by now," he said as he walked up and put a hand out to the blonde. "I'm Loki. Nice to meet you Captain America."

Steve's eyebrow raised as he gave the man a once over. "Loki?" he questioned. "You're name is Loki?"

Mitch and Loki exchanged looks before he answered. "I know it's an unconventional nick name, but that's what I usually go by."

Steve took a step back, unsure if this man was actually Loki from Asgard just in disguise, or if the man was telling the truth about it being a nick name. "Forgive me, but if you could stay right there. I need to make a quick phone call," Steve explained, taking out the very small phone that he was explained was a cell phone. Steve found the number he was looking for and waited for an answer.

Meanwhile, Loki made a motion like the Cap was crazy and Mitch shook her head in agreement. "Wonder what his deal is? I mean, I know he's not from this century, but he acts as if he's never heard a nick name before."

Mitch gave a light laugh that was cut off when she saw Steve coming back to them. "Everything okay?" she asked curiously.

"I was just making sure that Loki, the man responsible for the attack on the city, hadn't gotten free and made his way back to Earth," Steve explained. At the response, Mitch couldn't help but start laughing while Loki/Logan paled then blushed in embarrassment. He felt a bit stupid, but on the other hand, how was he to know that the actual god Loki existed _and_ that he had caused the attack.

Mitch was having a field day with this new information and was already beginning to add teases to her repertoire to take out on her friend for later. Her laughter was halted by both men clearing their throats at her. They obviously didn't see what was so funny to her.

"Sorry, I just. I didn't know the name of the guy in green until now and I find it extremely funny that my best friend just happens to go by Loki as a nick name," she told the Captain. "By the way, you are _never_ living this one down. Never," she directed at her friend who still looked like a kid that got caught taking a cookie out of the cookie jar without permission.

"So, as you can see, Cap, we're pretty finished here," Mitch said, addressing Steve's reasoning for coming in her parlor. The subject changed was welcomed by both men and Steve nodded his acknowledgement. "Okay, well, I'll just be taking my leave then," he said, preparing to walk out.

"Hey now, slow up. Do you want to hang out or something? Mitch and I were about to go grab some drinks, if you want to come with?" Loki suggested, his own sneaky smile on his face when he saw the grave look Mitch gave him. Loki knew Mitch, at the very least, thought the guy was attractive, just by the way she looked at him. Mitch was subtle in a lot of things, but Loki had known her long enough to tell the signs whenever Mitch liked something or didn't like something. If he was allowed, Loki would to sit in one of her meetings and be able to tell what Mitch agreed with and disagreed with, when no one else could.

"Well, that is, if you're not busy helping out other places," Mitch chimed in, "I know there are still businesses that need help cleaning up and we wouldn't want to stop you from doing your noble deed."

Steve didn't care much for the woman's word choice about his help of the places that were also messed up by the Chitauri attack, but he noticed that people of this time were more rude in the things they said, most without even realizing it. So he let it go.

"Actually, I could go for a drink or two, if you don't mind? I would actually like to ask you about your nick name, sir, if that's alright?" he asked politely.

"Not a problem. I'll grab our stuff and we'll walk there. It's just down the block." Loki winked at Mitch as he walked by her to grab his cover shirt and her clutch. Mitch responded with sticking up three fingers, something she knew Loki would get but Steve wouldn't. "You see, I would read between the lines, but I don't see any on your fingers. Sorry babe," Loki joked.

"Fuck you. I'm not a pig," Mitch replied to the 'babe' comment.

Steve was thrown off by the woman's language. Cursing still wasn't something he was used to hearing and especially from a woman. But he couldn't help but notice the fire in Mitch that he had seen in Peggy during training. He wondered if Mitch would sock a punch at a guy the way Peggy had. The memory made him smile, which is what he was doing when Mitch came up to him to have him walk with them, and their eyes met, honey brown to sky blue. Even Loki swore he could feel a spark at that very moment.

Mitch broke the moment as quickly as it happened by walking to the door and holding it open to for the two men to go through it so she could lock it behind them.

"Let's see if you can keep up, Captain," Loki said as they left the parlor and headed to the bar.

xxx

**A/N: I want to say thank you to everyone who liked this story, favored it, is following it and left reviews for it. I really hope it lives up to what you're looking for and I welcome all criticism and ideas. Just please be nice about it. Thank you. ^.^**


	3. Drinking and Chess

**Disclaimer: I own no Marvel stuff BUT I do own my character, Mitch and the other Loki belongs to my friend.**

**A/N: Sorry for this chapter taking a while to be posted, but work picked up, I graduated with my masters, house chores, weekend of fun, and then finally writing this chapter.**

**xxx**

Mitch locked the door behind her friend and the Captain. She overheard the military man respond to Loki with, "I can't get drunk." She laughed heartily at that comment. At the same time, Loki and Mitch asked, "What do you mean you can't get drunk?"

Steve stopped and turned to look at both of them. "It's a condition of the serum that made me, this," he explained, his hands motioning down his body. Mitch couldn't help but follow his hands over his body, noticing the muscles lightly showing through his blue shirt. It fit him nicely, not too tight, not too loose, just enough to show the outlines of his incredible chest and abdominals. Loki nudged her side, bringing her back to reality.

"Wow, that's such a shame for you," she replied quickly after her attention was brought back. "But, it's not the 1940s anymore, Captain, we have created and even discovered stronger alcohol. I bet we can at least get you tipsy," she said.

He looked skeptical and then a little afraid when he saw the mischievous look on the other man's face. "Come on, our place is right down the street," Loki said.

The three walked a little ways down the street and crossed it to come up to a biker bar, complete with motorcycles on the outside of it and loud music banging through the walls of it. It was one of the first places Mitch and Loki helped clean up after the alien attack. The place was like their second home, or in Mitch's case, third home. They even left their motorcycles out front while they were at work, and knew the owner and all the bartenders by name. Steve looked at the outside of it like it as if he was a priest looking at a porn shop. He wasn't too sure about it, but then Mitch turned back and smiled at him and without fully realizing it, he followed her and Loki into the bar and to a table in the corner of the room.

"Hey Mickey! Bring a pitcher and three mugs!" Loki shouted to one of the bar tenders as they walked past. He noticed how the Captain seemed to be near oblivious to their surroundings once Mitch smiled at him outside of the bar. There was something there, he'd bet his awesome hair on it, and if he could help it, he'd make sure his best friend went home with the good soldier that night.

The three took their seats, Mitch in the center with both men flanking her sides. She was facing the entry and main room of the bar, watching people come and go, her favorite thing to do. A waitress came up with a pitcher of beer and three frosty mugs, as requested by Loki. He smiled at her charmingly. "How are you doing, Aubrey?" he asked, pouring himself his beer. "Just fine, Loki," the blonde smiled back, "How are you?"

"I am not going to get used to your name being Loki," Steve interrupted awkwardly. Mitch couldn't help but laugh while the waitress patted Loki on the shoulder sympathetically and walked off, ending their flirting. Loki took a long swig from his beer before continuing.

"You know, you really shouldn't throw off a man's game like that. Seriously," Loki jeered.

"Right," Mitch replied, pouring beer into a mug and putting it in front of Steve and then pouring one for her own, "Like scoring with _that_ one is difficult." Her thumb stuck out towards the direction of the waitress for emphasis. Steve looked between the two friends quizzically. He didn't know what they were talking about, so he took a drink from his mug and just listened. His eyes wandered every now and then to Mitch's hair, her raven color catching different lights from the color strobe light on the ceiling. He noticed the tattoo on her right forearm again, their current environment giving him the opportunity to study it better than when they first met. It looked Egyptian, perhaps one of their gods or something, he wasn't sure. But it was interesting to see her with such a mark. It made Steve wonder if the coffee skinned woman had more of them on her body.

Mitch was gently bobbing her head to the pounding rock music, waving at random people she knew, and drinking from her mug. She didn't noticed that she was being studied by the man next to her, but Loki did, and it made him smile knowingly. At least hooking them up wouldn't be too difficult for him, they both clearly were interested in one another, Loki just had to add some more booze to the equation.

"So, Steve, what do you think of this place?" Mitch finally asked. Steve looked up from his gazing around and met eyes with Mitch again. "I, well..." He didn't want to be rude, but the place wasn't what he cared for. "It's a bit loud!" he shouted over the music. Loki and Mitch laughed lightly. Mitch signaled something to a bar tender behind the bar and a moment later the music wasn't pounding loud anymore. Now it was just loud. Steve gave Mitch a questioning look. She smiled back at the handsome man. "It's good to know people," she commented.

"Thank you," Steve said. "It looks interesting. Do you own it too?" he inquired. He asked because they seemed to know everyone who worked there by name, owners usually know things like that. And they were treated respectfully by those who worked there. Two plus two, right?

"Nah, we just come here way too often. Two of the bikes out there are ours," Loki answered, raising his hand to get the attention of a waitress. Steve's interested was piqued when the other man mentioned the motorcycles outside. "Does that mean you have one, Michelle?"

"Mitch," she fired back quickly, before Steve even finished her name. "It's Mitch. I'm not at work, okay?" she pointed out. Steve was a bit taken aback by the quick reply, and the insistency that he use the informal name. "I'm sorry," he answered. "And when I say work, I don't mean the parlor, that's not work, that's life," she said, taking a swig from her beer to relax. The use of her name had Mitch flash backing to the events of earlier in the week, and the constant hounding that Tony Stark dished out. Her temple started to hurt at the very memory of all those phone calls, messages, and even gift baskets sent to her office.

"And yes, one of those babies out there is mine," she finally replied, finishing off her beer. A waitress returned with three short plastic cups with liquid in them. She placed them on the table and then placed napkins on top of each cup. "Enjoy," she said smiling and walking away.

Mitch's eyes grew to saucers. She turned to Loki. "Slammers?" she asked with an excited smile. Loki just nodded with a grin. Steve looked confused, again. "Slammers?" he asked curiously.

"Captain Slammers. They're shots," Loki explained. "Half Captain Morgan rum, half sprite, all goodness. You take the cup like this," Loki said, grabbing the cup from the top with the napkin on it, "and slam the bottom on the table. It mixes the two and then you shoot it down as quick as you can. Taste like heaven."

Steve still looked a bit confused by the whole idea. He was also afraid he might break the table if he "slammed" the cup too hard. "Okay, let's do this. Cups up!" Mitch instructed happily, raising her cup above the center of the table for the other two to join. Loki raised his cups followed by Steve. "To the recovery of New York!" Mitch cheered. "Here, here!" Loki agreed, clanking cups with Mitch then Steve. Steve nodded his input and clanked with the other two glasses.

"Bottoms up ladies!" Mitch jeered, clanking her cup with theirs. "One, two, three," Loki counted and right after three, he and Mitch hit their cups on the table surface and Steve watched as the drink began to fizzle and foam lightly before both put their cups to their lips and began gulping the shot down. Steve followed suit shortly thereafter, using enough strength to slam the cup to mix it, but not hard enough to break anything. He took the napkin off the top, took a small settling gulp then put the drink to his lips and shot it back.

"Oooooohhh!" Mitch and Loki wooed together, impressed and awed that the great American Hero could shot back a drink like the rest of them. "Good job Cap!" Mitch encouraged, giving his back a light smack.

Steve was surprised to find that he actually liked the drink, it tasted like a cream soda, which reminded him of earlier days. He was smiling like the rest of them and beginning to enjoy himself. He was still skeptical that the alcohol would have much effect on him, but his present company was nice and with the music not being super loud, he could actually hear it and decided it wasn't half bad either.

"Another one!" Loki cheered, flagging down their waitress.

**xxx**

Frigga walked down the corridor with her head up, her robin's egg blue dress flowing elegantly around her feet as she walked. She stopped as she reached the large double doors that lead to her destination. She merely nodded to the guards on either side before walking in.

"You're later than usual," came a voice as Frigga walked closer to her target. "I had some last minute duties to attend to," she answered, taking a seat in a chair that was in front of an in-progress chess game which was in front of a large glass cell that held Frigga's adopted son, Loki. There was also a chess game set up in his cell, the pieces in the exact same places as the set the queen was sitting next to.

The dark haired god simply nodded his acknowledgment. He had been quietly pacing while waiting for his mother to show up for what had become a daily routine for them. When he had been placed in the cell with few amenities, he requested the checkered patterned game board with 32 pieces. It was a game he had seen while he was on Midgard, it was interesting because it was all based on strategy and intellect, something Loki respected. He also requested a book about the game so he could teach himself. Once he had learned how it was played, Loki played a few games on his own. When Frigga came to visit him every so often, she would inquire about the board and the pieces. Loki explained it to her and she asked if she could play the game with him so long as he taught her how. He agreed, and for the past few days they had played 3 games, going on 4, the score 2 to 1 in Loki's favor. But their current game was close, Frigga was learning quickly and there was a good chance she could win this round.

The chess game continued without another word between the two Asgardians. Loki had little to no contact to anyone else of Asgard other than his mother. The game help kept him busy, working out ways to win, strategies for a fast and slow defeat. Another distraction from Loki's solitude was thinking about the female Midgardian. She was brave and witty, and dark, and not just in skin color. Her confidence and yet hesitancy in her skills captivated the God of Mischief's interest. So much power and yet he sensed within her a near need to not have her power. When she answered his question as to how she did what she did, the woman's answer was almost sad in its tone, like she wasn't proud of it the way Loki believed she should be. It was amazing watching her in the battle, the way she crushed that entire Chitauri war ship with just her hands was very impressive. Then she proceeded to take away his staff, his main source of power during that fight, and she took it as if it was nothing, barely batting an eyelash at it. Loki had wondered a few times if she could use her powers to take Thor's Mjölnir from him. That thought always amused him, especially when he thought of what the look on his not-brother's face when his precious hammer flew away from him and into the dark beauty's hands. There were other things he wondered about with that Midgardian and her 'Magnetic Field Manipulation' as she called it. It's not magic, she had told him, but evolution instead. He had wanted to find books on Midgard's 'evolution' but the chess game caught more of his attention. For now.

"Check," he heard Frigga say. Loki just smiled and studied the board before him. Yes, Frigga was getting good at this game.

**xxx**

"Oh my god! I LOVE this song! Mickey, turn it up!" Mitch yelled as soon as she heard the opening rift of a song. The music grew louder and Mitch was head-banging and holding her hand up with her fingers in the 'I love you' sign.

"Oh damn, it's her song. Well, one of them at least," Loki told Steve over the music.

"Break me down! You got a lovely face!" Mitch was singing with the song. Steve wasn't sure what to think of it. The woman had stood up and started moving her hips to the music and her sleeveless black shirt kept rising ever so slightly, showing the light brown skin of her stomach and lower back. Steve could make out something on her lower back, possibly another tattoo? Steve wanted to find out, eventually. He was so caught up in watching her move that he wasn't paying attention to the lyrics of the song she was singing along with.

That is until a certain word was said and then Steve proceeded to cringe. "What's wrong Cap? Not a fan of Buckcherry?" Loki asked when he saw the good Samaritan cringing. "Buck what?" Steve yelled over the music, his eye still glancing over at Mitch and her dancing.

Loki looked over at Mitch then back at the Captain. "Cherry! Buckcherry! It's the name of the band," he replied. The alcohol was taking effect on him at least and the music didn't seem _that_ loud to him. All three of them were three beers and two shots into the night, and judging by Mitch's carefree attitude, Loki could tell she was feeling good too. As for Steve, he wasn't at their level, which was just a mild buzz, but he did feel more relaxed. Though that didn't stop him for frowning every time the words 'bitch' and 'fuck' were said in the song.

"Can't say that I do, no. They're vulgar!" Steve replied back as the song hit its last chorus.

"You're crazy but I like the way you fuck me!" Mitch sang, ending the song with a huge smile followed by a laugh as she sat back down at the table. "Whoo! That was fun. I've missed this place," Mitch said, taking a drink from her beer.

"It's only been a few weeks," Loki stated.

"Yeah, few weeks too many. So glad we got this place back up and running. It's the only place I can go and _not_ be readily recognized and end up with my face plastered all over tabloids," Mitch scoffed.

"Yeah, I can see it now, 'Daughter of two international diplomats gets drunk and dances to a song about sex for money.' Great headline. Or, 'American ambassador shames Spanish father and Egyptian mother by singing along with Crazy Bitch.' Ahaha, those would be so priceless!" Loki laughed after his joke while Mitch just scowled lightly before starting to laugh with him. Steve joined them, the sound contagious, and soon all three were just rolling with laughter, tears starting to some of their eyes.

"Oh gosh, we need another round of something, Aubrey! Surprise us with something please!" Loki asked the waitress. She nodded with a smile and a few minutes later showed up with three more shots, these were red, white, and blue. "What is this?" Steve asked, picking his up and looking at it.

"It's called The Fourth of July shot," Mitch piped in. "What's in it?" Steve asked. "Just drink it, please," Mitch ordered. They toasted to their country and sucked down their shots, Steve, once again, liking his even though he had first been skeptical about it.

A half an hour, and two more beers later, Mitch checked her watch and groaned. "Damn it. It's 10:37. I gotta actually get home" she said. Loki groaned next. "Being grown up sucks so muuuuuuuuuuch... Why you gotta go? Why do you have a grown up job?" he whined.

"Well, one of us got to be responsible," Mitch replied. "And get enough sleep in order to be responsible," she added. Steve admired her for recognizing that she needed to head home and be conscientious of her work. It seemed that her friend could use a little more motivation when it came to holding himself accountable for his life and job, but that was just Steve's opinion.

"I should probably make my way home as well. This was lovely, thank you for inviting me," Steve said as he rose with Mitch, a manners habit ingrained in him since he was a kid. Loki looked up at them both and pouted mockingly. "Fine, I will at least get you guys a taxi, since you're abandoning me. I mean, since it would be much safer than driving yourselves home," Loki recovered himself after the small jab comment.

Mitch rolled her eyes at the childish man. "Yes, we're leaving you and you're never going to see us again." She stuck her tongue out at him as she teased him and the three walked to the front of the bar. There wasn't much of a tab to pay because the owner and Mitch had a trading agreement, a certain price of drinks for the equally priced tattoo or tattoos, so the only thing that was paid for were the beer pitchers, which Loki decided to pay since he suggested them in the first place. Steve insisted he pay for his share of the tab, but Mitch just put her hand on his outstretched arm and told him that Loki was a stubborn-ass and wouldn't take his money unless it was shoved down his throat forcefully. Steve relented, begrudgingly, but still put the money back in his wallet. Mitch's hand, meanwhile, lingered on the Captain's forearm, gently running her fingertips up and down it.

Loki hailed a taxi and gave the guy the exact amount it took to get from the bar to Mitch's apartment. Yes, that was how many times they had taken a taxi to get home, to the point that Loki knew the exact amount. Hey, better safe than sorry though, right?

"That's only one place, there's two passengers," the driver inquired to the brunette.

"I know," Loki replied with a wink. Turning to the other two, he told them he took care of the cab fare and to have a good night. As her hugged his friend he whispered, "It's only going to your place, you have my blessing, have fun, be safe." Mitch gave him a glare that hid an unspoken 'thank you' in it.

"C'mon Cap, let's get out of here," Mitch told Steve as she opened his door for him. "Don't give me that 'ladies first' crap, and just get in the car please," she said before Steve could open his mouth to have her go in first. He decided it was best not to argue with the woman and got into the cab first, sliding over to the other side to make room for Mitch to get in.

"Good night you two!" Loki called as Mitch shut the door and the cab left.

"So, Steve, how about a nightcap at my place before parting ways?" Mitch asked, a sweet smile on her face.

"Sounds nice," he answered genuinely. It would be nice to be able to talk to her outside of the booming music of the bar, and he thought about asking her about her tattoos, maybe seeing the one he noticed on her back, if it was okay with Mitch, of course.

"Good."

**XXX**

**Yes, yes, I know, I left it a cliff hanger, but I also figured this chapter was getting a bit long and what happens next should go into its own chapter.**

**I want to thank ****My2BrownEyes**** for answering every PM I've ever sent and answering every question I've had about the Marvel Universe and for just being really helpful and nice overall.**

**I want to thank all the recent followers/favorite adders since the last chapter and this one. I would name you all, but currently I am at work posting this, so, I'm being careful. But really, thank you all. **

**Reviews are welcome and I thank those who have already reviewed. Until next time, C'ya!**


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